NSAC Co-op Webinar 9/29: Distinguishing Between Patronage, Nonpatronage and Nonmember Income

NSAC’s Cooperative Learning Network offers excellent continuing education for co-op professionals.

I’m particularly excited about this upcoming webinar offered by the National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives (NSAC) — Tuesday, September 29, 2020 at 2 pm ET / 1 pm CT / 12 pm MT / 11 am PT — entitled “Distinguishing between patronage, nonpatronage and nonmember income“.

Why? Well, not only is it an important and complex topic about which there is little written — and even less often presented at conferences and in continuing education settings — but it’s being taught by some of my very favorite colleagues in the co-op world. In particular, Teree Castanias and George Benson are regular educators in the space of cooperative tax issues, and among the very finest in their fields. (And one of the moderators is none other than a friend of mine, the extremely knowledgeable and dedicated Rebecca Smith.)

“This session will discuss the consequences of patronage distributions and/or patronage retentions in the current environment. Panelists will discuss prior case law and the proposed regulations as well as the consequences of both in the current environment.”

If you work in co-op accounting, you owe it to yourself and your clients to take an hour out of your day to get up-to-speed on this complicated and essential topic. It’s a fast, convenient, easy, and affordable way to learn from some of the leaders in the field. Nope, they don’t pay me to say this… I’m just excited about it. Register here. See you there!


If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. This allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.

Illinois Business Interruption Grant, Round 2, Open Now — FREE WEBINAR Sept 22

Register by visiting www.chicago.gov/businesseducation

The State of Illinois has created the Business Interruption Grants (BIG) program for small businesses in Illinois suffering losses as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as communities impacted by the recent civil unrest. Applications for a second round of funding are now live. A total of $220 million will be made available for small businesses of all types in Illinois.

The Chicago BACP has put together a free webinar on September 22, 2020 that brings together the following partners to provide an overview of the program and how to apply.
– Ciere Boatright, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives
– Brad McConnell, Accion Serving Illinois and Indiana
– Marcus Yancey, Local Initiatives Support Corporation Chicago
Register by visiting www.chicago.gov/businesseducation today.

The second wave of funds includes the following provisions to ensure a wide distribution of funds geographically and across business type:

  • Heavily Impacted Industries – $60 million for heavily distressed industries, such as movie theatres, performing arts venues, concert venues, indoor recreation, amusement parks, and more.
  • Disproportionately Impacted Areas – $70 million set aside for DIAs, defined by zip codes identified by the General Assembly for communities that are most economically distressed and vulnerable to COVID-19.
  • Downstate Communities– DCEO has committed to ensuring that at least half of all remaining funds, totaling more than $100 million, are reserved for businesses in downstate and rural communities of Illinois.
  • Priority Businesses– Apart from the $60 million for heavily impacted industries, applications from the following types of businesses will be prioritized for review for remaining funds:  businesses directly affected by regional mitigations implemented by the state or local governments, independently owned retail, tourism- and hospitality-related industries including accommodations, and more.
  • Agriculture – $5 million of the remainder of funds will be set aside for livestock production disruptions.
  • Grants and Loan Forgiveness for Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan recipients – As authorized by the General Assembly, DCEO will offer grants for businesses that have incurred eligible costs to offset loans received under the Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan program.

Businesses outside the categories listed above are also eligible to apply and receive funding under the program but may be reviewed later than priority businesses. All businesses will receive a decision on their grant application within four to six weeks of application submission. More information here —
https://www2.illinois.gov/dceo/SmallBizAssistance/Pages/C19DisadvantagedBusGrants.aspx

I am getting a lot of questions from recipients of Round 1 grants about what types of costs are considered eligible for this program. The Certification & Requirements pdf states the following.

ELIGIBLE COSTS
“The subrecipient will use the proceeds of the subaward supported by the Program exclusively for costs and losses incurred due to the business interruption or other adverse conditions caused by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. For purposes of this Program, costs incurred during a business interruption may be classified as a cost related to COVID-19. Grant proceeds may be used to reimburse costs and losses such as inventory, equipment (including Personal Protective Equipment and other supplies to promote health and safety), compensation (including salaries, wages, tips, paid leave, and group healthcare benefits), rent, technology to facilitate e-commerce, professional services procured (including the design and construction of environments necessary to promote physical and social distancing and cleaning and disinfecting services) and other costs of operation in accordance with the applicable administrative rules or the policy directives of the grantor that was incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 30, 2020. All spending related to this program must be reimbursable by the Federal Coronavirus Relief Fund, as prescribed by 601(a) of the Social Security Act and added by section 5001 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act including all subsequent federal guidance. Expenses that have been or will be reimbursed under any other federal program are not eligible for reimbursement through the proceeds of this subaward.

Please pass the word along about this grant to the neediest of the Illinois businesses you know.


If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. This allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.

IRS Labor Day Weekend Planned System Outage

From the IRS “e-News for Tax Professionals” comes a reminder that even though we are scrambling after an elongated tax season to get our S-Corp and Partnership returns filed by the September 15th deadline, this won’t be the weekend to e-file them.


If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. This allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.

New AICPA FREE Searchable Index For PPP Guidance

Screenshot from 9/3/20 AICPA Town Hall of excerpt of new PPP rule index

The AICPA has come out with yet another amazing, free tool to help business owners administer PPP loans and accountants to advise them.

If you’ve been playing along, you know that the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s troubled and challenging Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has had a ridiculous number of clarifications, FAQs, Interim Final Rules (IFR), and other guidance. Figuring out which piece of info is hidden in which document is nearly impossible.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) felt the same way. So the organization that brought you the [free] PPP Forgiveness Calculator and [also-free] PPP Online Forgiveness Tool, now brings you a (FREE) lovely spreadsheet with (so far) 170 searchable questions about the PPP, and indicates the date and type of guidance, and links to where to find it.

From the AICPA:

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), under Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, provides small businesses with forgivable loans. Administered through the Small Business Administration (SBA), the PPP loan proceeds are to be expended on payroll, rent, mortgage payments, or utilities. The SBA, in conjunction with the Treasury, have released Interim Financial Rules (IFRs) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to provide guidance.

This searchable index allows users to easily find guidance on the PPP loan application, eligibility, allowable use of funds, loan forgiveness, maturity date, and more.


If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. This allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.